My pastor told me doubt was a sin, so I stopped asking questions for 8 years

I grew up in a small evangelical church in Tulsa where the pastor said having doubts meant you didn't trust God enough. I was 16 when I asked him why God allowed my friend's dad to die of cancer. He pulled me aside and said doubt is a sin and I needed to just pray more. So I shut up and pretended to believe everything for 8 years. Last year I started therapy and my therapist said doubt is normal and healthy. Now I'm in a Unitarian church and I actually feel closer to God asking hard questions. Anyone else get told their doubts were bad and have to unlearn that?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorb9417d ago

That bit about 'doubt being a sin' hit me. I had a similar thing happen when I asked my Sunday school teacher why the Bible had so many different endings in different versions, and she told me I was 'letting the devil plant confusion.'

taylorm8917d ago

That "letting the devil plant confusion" line is exactly the kind of thing that made me check out of organized religion. Look, I get that doubt can make people uncomfortable, but telling someone they're being influenced by satan for asking a basic question about biblical accuracy is just a way to shut down critical thinking. The Bible has different endings in different manuscripts because scribes made changes over centuries, that's just historical fact. Calling it satanic doesn't make it go away. If your faith can't handle a simple question about textual variants, it's built on sand not rock.